Isolated Testing Environment for Security Tool Evaluation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current methods for evaluating and comparing security tools are inadequate, as they often require deploying products on enterprise networks, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive, or rely on narrow product demonstrations that do not accurately represent real-world network conditions.

Innovation Solution

A system and method for evaluating security tools in isolated testing environments that allow for concurrent testing with different configurations, while maintaining strict resource controls and ensuring the integrity of production environments. This system uses controlled resource allocation and isolation techniques to simulate production conditions and provide comparative analysis of security tool performance.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If security tools are deployed on enterprise network for evaluation, then real-world performance can be assessed, but network reconfiguration time and labor increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveperformance evaluation accuracyVSAvoiddeployment and reconfiguration time

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates virtual copies of enterprise network environments (test instances) that replicate production network conditions. These virtual environments allow security tools to be evaluated in realistic scenarios without actual deployment on the enterprise network, thus maintaining measurement precision while eliminating deployment time and labor.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The evaluation system segments the testing process into isolated virtual instances that can be created, configured, and destroyed independently. Each test instance represents a portion of the enterprise network environment, allowing parallel evaluation of multiple security tools without affecting the main network or requiring physical reconfiguration.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Loss of time

If product demonstration is used for evaluation, then evaluation time is reduced, but the test environment does not represent production complexity

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveevaluation timeVSAvoidperformance evaluation accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system prepares pre-configured virtual network templates that replicate production environment complexity beforehand. When evaluation is needed, these pre-prepared templates are quickly instantiated as test instances, providing both rapid deployment (reducing evaluation time) and realistic production-like conditions (maintaining measurement precision).

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Adaptability or versatility

If multiple security tools are tested concurrently with different configurations, then comparative analysis capability improves, but resource management complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecomparative evaluation capabilityVSAvoidresource management complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The virtual environment manager provides a universal platform that can host multiple test instances with different security tool configurations simultaneously. The system manages resources dynamically across all instances using standardized interfaces, enabling comparative evaluation of multiple tools (improving adaptability) while automating resource allocation to prevent complexity from escalating.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

4Reliability

If isolated testing environment is created, then production environment integrity is protected, but setup and configuration effort increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveproduction environment securityVSAvoidtesting environment setup ease

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The virtual environment manager automatically provisions and configures isolated test instances when requested, without requiring manual setup. The system self-manages the creation of isolated environments, allocation of resources, and configuration of test parameters, thereby protecting production environment integrity (improving reliability) while eliminating manual setup effort (improving ease of manufacture).

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentUS20250184370A1System and method for comparative evaluation of security tools in isolated environments

Publication Date: 2025.06.05 QPX LLC

AI summary

A system and method for the secure and private demonstration of cloud-based cyber-security tools. Using an advanced sandboxing design patterns, isolated instances of virtual networks allow a potential client to compare their existing cyber defense tools against a set of cloud-based tools. Capitalizing on non-persistent and secure sandboxes allow the invention to demonstrate fully functional and devastating cyber-attacks while guaranteeing strict privacy and security to both existing customers and potential ones. Additionally, instantiating separate sandboxed observed systems in a single multi-tenant infrastructure provide each customer with the ability to rapidly create actual representations of their enterprise environment offering the most realistic and accurate demonstration and comparison between products.